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Welcome to dot.help computer support. We have reopened for business! Our new address is:

243 NW Chehalis Ave. Chehalis, WA 98532

We are so excited to be open at last! We’ve been very busy these past three months and our new building on NW Chehalis Ave. looks fabulous. There’s still some moving in to do and further modifications to be completed, but our sleek new lab is up and running and computers are being repaired as we speak. We’d like to extend a warm welcome and a big thank-you to our many loyal customers who have waited so patiently for three whole months while we worked to make dot.help bigger (literally!) and better than ever!

Our current location at 505 N. Market Blvd. in Chehalis will be permanently closed as of Saturday, August 27th.

That’s right, it’s our final week here! We look forward to reopening in 2 or 3 months. Future announcements regarding our brand new location and the date of our reopening will be made here on our website.

Thanks to all of our loyal customers for your patience and support while we make this transition. We love you, Lewis County!

We’ll be announcing our new Chehalis location soon. The move will take us two or three weeks to complete. Phil will be in and out of the office during this time, so our doors will periodically be closed during normal business hours. Meanwhile, jobs currently in our lab are still in progress. If we have your computer, DO call if you need to check in with us and DO leave us a voicemail if we can’t immediately pick up your call.

Again, PLEASE CALL before stopping by. Until we are situated in our new place of business, normal business hours do not apply.

Thank you, our loyal customers, for hanging in there while we make this exciting new change.

A couple of the most common rogues we see these days are masquerading as official communications from federal government entities. These “ransomware” rogues claim that “your computer has been locked” and threaten to open “a criminal case against you” if you do not pay a fine amounting to hundreds of dollars.

If you see this kind of message on your computer, don’t be fooled! Yes, we all know that “Big Brother is watching,” but the federal government is never actually going to send you a ransom note on your computer!

What should you do if you come across ransomware? Just shut down your computer immediately and, upon restart, if the message is still there, it’s time to bring it in to dot.help for a rogue removal. Ransomware is nasty stuff, but we can remove it and repair the mess it makes of your system! Whatever you do, do NOT send the cyber criminals money! If you already have done so, immediately contact your financial institution for damage-control.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center suggests the following actions for dealing with ransomware:

3. Contact a reputable computer expert to help you remove it. (That’s what we’re here for!)

For tips on dealing with rogues, look here. For more information about the FBI and ICE rogues, take a look here and here. Rogues and ransomware aren’t new. They’ve been around for years and they are still affecting average people on a daily basis. We see them every week on computers belonging to people just like you and me. Don’t get fooled. Get dot.help!

Phil and “Dot” the dot.help Miata have been preparing all winter long for the 2013 Autocross season. April 21st marked their first event of the year, at which they took First in the CSP Class! The next event they’ll be participating in will be this weekend at the Hampton Lumber Mill lot in Packwood, WA. Wish them luck in the comments below or on facebook!

Merry Christmas from all of us at dot.help! May the holiday season bring you joy, peace and well-behaved electronics. Should you soon find yourself in need of computer support or repair, remember that we’ll be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but we will reopen after the holiday on Wednesday the 26th. ‘Til then, here’s wishing you everything merry and bright!

P.S. What do you think of our window decorations? Let us know on facebook!

This Halloween brought us ladybugs aplenty! Many thanks to our “manlybug” Zaxhary for distributing candy to the trick-or-treaters. Thanks also to the individuals and organizations who sponsored the free “Trick Or Treat Trolley” that brought many of these costumed critters to downtown Chehalis so they could join in the fun!

When downloading the latest version of Adobe Flash Player, be sure to uncheck the box for the bonus software.

Have you been having trouble with Flash video on the web lately? Right after an update, for instance? Well, so has everyone else! If your computer has difficulty loading video-heavy websites in Internet Explorer after a recent Flash update, try uninstalling the Adobe Flash Player from your computer, then reinstalling the latest version directly from Adobe’s website. Here’s the link: get.adobe.com/flashplayer/. For security reasons, it is important to have the latest version of Adobe Flash installed on your computer. Just don’t forget that when you download the installer, you will be prompted to also install some bonus software that you DO NOT WANT! Be sure to uncheck the box next to whatever toolbar, security tool or other junk application that’s being offered. Software is not automatically worth installing just because it’s free! Questions? Problems? Give us a call! dot.help is here to help!

It’s time for some Spring Cleaning! What will you do with your old electronics?

Wondering where to dump that old dinosaur of a computer? How about that monstrous CRT monitor taking up space in the hall closet? And the outdated laptop? Bring ’em in to dot.help for FREE recycling! We reuse and recycle old electronics, helping to reduce the amount of toxic trash that ends up in landfills.

Do you need the files off of your old computer before it’s recycled? Take advantage of our Data Recovery services! dot.help can recover your data and transfer it to your new computer or an appropriate data storage device. We’ll also wipe your old hard drive to make certain that your personal files are safely in your control. That’s just one of the reasons why dot.help is the computer support provider you trust.

Are you thinking about donating your old computer to a friend, a family member or an organization in need? dot.help can help! We can prepare your old computer for a new owner and provide any necessary data retrieval.